The Mysterious Monument
by ShadowySnicket
Summary: Yet another downcast tale about the lives of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire.
1. The Prologue

A/N- This is my first ever fanfiction so if you can find it in your heart, please R/R. By the By, I own everything in the story except Violet, Klaus, Sunny, and anything else Mr Snicket has written before me.  
  
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You have probably clicked this page open on mistake so click the 'X' button in your top left corner while you still have the chance. If you are in you are sound of mind, you will not want to read this horribly sad tale about Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire on purpose. For example, why would someone want to read about such things as a mayoral campaign, a suitcase full of money, three menacing tornadoes, and a very interesting statue. I warn you one last time, put this book down and read something more interesting and happy such as The Littlest Elf, which although may be a bit boring, is better than this melancholy tale. 


	2. Chapter One

Most people can tell what kind of what kind of person another person is just by looking at them.  
  
Of course, this would be judging a book by it's cover, which isn't very good. You could meet the ugliest man in the world, and judge him just by his looks. Later in your life, you may meet the same man and find he had the best personality in the world. So, you may think the moral would be never judge a book by it's cover.  
  
But that is not the point of this story.  
  
In fact, it has nothing to do with our story.  
  
Anyway, as I was saying, most people can judge what a person is like by looking at him or her. Me, for instance, you could say I had seen too many things I truly did not want to see by looking into my eyes and not being able to spot the brightness that used to gleam in them.  
  
Now as the Baudelaires rode in Mr Poe's stuffy car, you could tell they were a very unlucky set of orphans by seeing how forlorn their faces looked as they gazed out of the windows. You could also tell they were very hot because of the sweat dripping down their chins.  
  
Right now, Violet, the oldest Baudelaire was thinking of an invention to make the air conditioning system in Mr Poe's car work better. The gears in her head were grinding as she glanced to her siblings and these gears were grinding because Violet was an inventor and when she was inventing, she pulled her hair out of her face with a ribbon but right now her hair was tied to keep it from sticking to her cheeks.  
  
Next, on the other side of the back seat was Klaus Baudelaire, the middle child. The one thing he loved to do was read books. Before the huge Baudelaire mansion burned to the ground, he had read a great deal of the Baudelaire's books. He knew many things that were often helpful in a tight situation.  
  
Finally, in the middle of the seat was Sunny, who was only an infant. Unlike many infants, she had four very sharp, pointy teeth. These teeth were very useful in situations where they need a knife but did not have one. Sunny's favorite activity was to bite certain things with these teeth, but these things had to be rather hard to withstand the teeth.  
  
As the oprhans gazed out onto the scenery, they couldn't help but wonder what kind of guardian Mr Poe had gotten them this time. You see, Mr Poe wasn't very good at finding the orphans very good homes. One thing Mr Poe was distinguishable by was his everlasting cough. The word everlasting here means "it never seemed to stop". So Mr Poe was always coughing, which in this case was horrible because it only added to the heat, scorching the poor Baudelaires.  
  
Now as I say 'poor Baudelaires', I do not mean the Baudelaires were not very wealthy. In fact, they were the complete opposite. The Baudelaire parents, who perished in a huge fire, had left them an enormous fortune that Violet would receive when she came of age. Until then, she and her siblings were stuck with whoever Mr Poe placed them with. When I say 'poor Baudelaires', I mean they were in a very bad situation.  
  
Now in between his coughs, Mr Poe spoke," Now when we get to Odysseia, you are to go to the Mayor's office. I, unfortunately, can not accompany you as I have some very urgent work back at the bank. The word 'urgent' means-"   
  
"Very important.",Klaus interrupted.  
  
"Yes, well, Here we are.." Mr Poe said.   
  
As the car pulled to a stop, the children saw the town of Odysseia. There was several middle-sized work offices and one large marble building.   
  
"Now I believe that Marble building is the Mayor's office-" Mr Poe choked out, before coughing again.   
  
The Baudelaires slid out of the car, looking around and uncertainly closing the car door.   
  
"Goodbye children!",Mr Poe yelled as he pulled the car away.   
  
"Well, I suppose we're on our own once again.", stated Violet.   
  
Klaus replied, "Yes, well, we should still find our guardian."   
  
"Dumas!", squealed Sunny, which meant ' I hope they are nicer to us than the others!'   
  
"Uncle Monty was nice.." Klaus trailed off, as they all remember the horrible fate that took Uncle Monty's life.   
  
"Come on, I think that's the Mayor's office." Violet motioned towards the large marble building. As they crossed the street, the children couldn't help but wonder what their new home would be like.  
  
Violet secretly wished there might be a large inventing studio, where her dreams could become realities. Yet, Klaus hoped for a large library, where he could read to his heart's content. Still, Sunny wanted a room full of sturdy things she could bite to her enjoyment.   
  
As they were passing a large sign telling them they were in the town park, the Baudelaires stopped dead in their tracks, staring at something amazing.   
  
Now, I am very sorry, but this reminds me of a time when I was cleaning my luggage case, and came across something that sparked my intrest very much indeed. I was an old picture of myself and the woman I had loved, many years before this horrible series of events began. At this photo, I began to wonder what my life would have been like if I had never gotten involved with this horrible chain reaction.   
  
As the Baudelaires stood, gazing at the statue, each one of them thought what would have happened if their parents had not perished in a fire or if they had never met the despicable Count Olaf. The word 'despicable' here means,'a very horrible man who would stop at nothing to steal other people's fortunes'. The statue the orphans looked upon was a carving. A carving of only three letters in certain way, so they formed a symbol. These letters were V, F, and D. 


	3. Chapter Two

It is amazing how one simple thing can remind you of such horrible things.   
  
For instance, the symbol of an eye, such as the one on Count Olaf's ankle, reminds me of a horrible society filled with corruption.  
  
Now as the Baudelaire children stared at the statue that formed a symbol that was too familiar to them, they were reminded of horrible things such as the killing of an innocent man and a mystery that involved the possibility of one of their parents surviving the fire that consumed the entire Baudelaire mansion.  
  
"I-I-it's V.F.D.." stammered Klaus.  
  
"Look at the inscription..'To the hardworking men and women of the V.F.D.' It IS V.F.D." spoke Violet.  
  
"Fallag!" cried Sunny. When Sunny said 'Fallag', she meant 'Another clue to this mystery!'  
  
"Maybe our new guardian will explain this..We'd better get to town hall." said Violet.  
  
She took the hands of her brother and sister, leading the way to the large marble building. They nervously knocked on the large wooden doors and a young woman answered the door.  
  
"Hello. Would you be the Baudelaires?" she said with a kind smile.  
  
"Er, yes. Are you our guardian?" Klaus answered.  
  
"No. I'm Grace Locke. I'm the mayor's secretary. If you'll follow me, I'll take you to see your new guardian" she said.  
  
The children followed her down a large hallway lined with door that had some people peering out through cracks.  
  
"Don't mind them. They haven't ever seen any children in this office before.." she said, smiling at the children's reactions to these people.  
  
She reached the end of the hallway at a large door that was made completely of glass. Miss Locke opened it and a few people at desks looked up. She continued on to a back office that also had a glass door. She took them through it and stopped in front of a desk. There was a large chair with it's back to them and a suited figure that also had his back to them.  
  
"Mr Harrison. Mr Taylor." said Grace.  
  
The chair swiveled around and the suited man turned to look at them. The man in the chair was balding and had a very businesslike look to him while the other man was much younger looking and not as businesslike.  
  
"These are the Baudelaire children." said the secretary.  
  
Grace turned to the children. "This is Mr. Harrison. He's the Mayor of Odysseia. And this," she gestured to the younger man," is Mr Taylor. He will be your guardian."  
  
The younger man smiled at the children. He had a very kind look to his face, the kind that reminded them of the better of their past guardians. He then looked to Mayor Harrison.  
  
"Sir? Could I possibly take off for the rest of the day to,erm, situate the children?" asked Mr Taylor nervously.  
  
"Well, I suppose..Of course, you'll have to make it up in the next week.." stated the Mayor.  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
Their new guardian followed Miss Grace, leading the Baudelaires out of the mayor's office. Quite a few people were hurrying by the children, knocking them off balance. Most of them were carrying big red, white, and blue banners and others had huge boxes, filled with bumper stickers.  
  
"As you can see, it's an election year. So we're very busy lately and people around the office might be a bit grouchy.."said Mr Taylor as someone yelled at the children to keep out of the way.  
  
As they reached the front doors, Grace sat back down at her desk and Mr Taylor grabbed his coat and turned to the secretary.  
  
"I'll see you tomorrow, Grace."   
  
"Good-bye Kennedy."  
  
Mr Taylor led the children out of the office building and showed them to his car. It was a bit bigger them Mr Poe's car and as the children soon found out, this car's air conditioning worked much better.  
  
"So, Mr Taylor-" started Violet.  
  
"Please. Call me Uncle Kennedy. And what might your names be?"  
  
"Well, I'm Violet. He's Klaus and this is our baby sister, Sunny."  
  
"Pleasure to meet you Violet, Klaus and Sunny."  
  
"Anyway, Uncle Kennedy, what exactly is your occupation in the Mayor's office?" asked Klaus.  
  
"Well, I'm the assistant mayor. It's a pretty big job because I'm also the official campaign manager but I should have more time off soon." said Uncle Kennedy.  
  
"Eruik?" questioned Sunny.  
  
"My sister means ' Why?'." said Violet, looking at Uncle Kennedy's expression.  
  
"Oh, well, Mr Harrison has hired another campaign manager so I'll get more free time. He'll be here tomorrow."  
  
They drove through town a little while longer, then turned down a road that seemed a little less active. Continuing down the road, the car pulled to a stop in front of the largest house they had seen on this road.  
  
Uncle Kennedy turned to look at them in the back seat.   
  
"It may not be the Baudelaire mansion," he said smiling "but it's the second biggest house in Odysseia."  
  
He led them inside and the children gazed around at the large house. Uncle Kennedy looked at them, and could see they were very tired looking.  
  
"You children look very tired. Are you hungry?"  
  
The Baudelaires shook their heads but Klaus spoke up.  
  
"We are very tired though, as you said.."  
  
"You can go upstairs and sleep, if you'd like."  
  
The children gave him a grateful smile and Uncle Kennedy showed them to their rooms. He then proceeded downstairs, leaving the children by themselves.  
  
"He seems really nice." said Klaus.  
  
"Maybe Count Olaf won't find us here.." said Violet hopefully.  
  
"Jauch!"  
  
The word ' Jauch' meant 'it seems that we have finally found a nice place to live!'. But it also seemed that, as usual, the Baudelaires assumptions were wrong. Except what Klaus had said about Uncle Kennedy. He really was a very kind man.  
  
The next morning, when the Baudelaire woke up, a wonderful aroma reached their nostrils. They met in the hallway, like the night before. They stepped down the huge staircase, following the smell to the kitchen, where they found Uncle Kennedy and a table full of scrumptious things to eat for breakfast.  
  
"Good morning children!" said Uncle Kennedy, brightly.  
  
"Good morning.." the children answered, looking around at all the wonderful things to eat, amazed.  
  
Filling their plates, Klaus' eyes lit up and he looked up at their guardian.  
  
"Uncle Kennedy? I forgot last night but did Mr Poe explain about Count Olaf?"  
  
"Actually, he did. I understand that this evil Count Olaf is after your fortune and is a master of disguises. He also has a tattoo of an eye on his left ankle and one eyebrow. Is that all?".  
  
"Yes." they sighed, relieved.  
  
Kennedy glanced at his watch and then turned to the Baudelaires.  
  
"I suppose it is about time to go to the office.."  
  
The children finished up their breakfasts and grabbed their coats, meeting Uncle Kennedy in the car. He pulled the car away from the house and they drove in silence until they reached the mayor's office. The children wondered if the office ever closed because these people were working just as hard as yesterday, when they had left. Kennedy walked down the hallway and stopped at Grace's desk.  
  
"Morning Grace. How're you?" he said, smiling nervously.  
  
"Fine, thank you."  
  
Uncle Kennedy turned to the children and smiled, less nervous this time.  
  
"So what would you like to do?"  
  
Klaus looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean, what would you like to do to help?"  
  
"Oh well, I could fix any broken mechanical things you have around the office.." said Violet, trailing off, thinking about how wonderful it would be if she could do nothing but invent and fix mechanical things all day long.  
  
"Grace, aren't most of the copiers broken?" asked Mr Taylor.  
  
"Yes. All of them, in fact."  
  
"Done! Violet will fix our copiers."  
  
Klaus looked at Uncle Kennedy. " I could read up on politic victories, and then maybe I could offer some ideas for this campaign.."  
  
"Done!"   
  
Kennedy looked at Sunny. " Hmm..Now..What could Sunny do?"  
  
"Well Uncle Kennedy, she is only an infant so she really couldn't help do much, but I could take her while I fix things..If that's O.K. with you.." stated Violet.  
  
"That's fine with me." he replied, smiling.  
  
For a few hours, the children worked in happiness, for they were able to do the things they loved the most. Violet and Sunny went from room to room, fixing copier machines and in Sunny's case, biting the hard tools. Klaus on the other hand, was sitting in the political library, reading about how past mayors had won these elections. Soon enough, Uncle Kennedy found them and told them to come meet the new campaign manager with him. They followed him, increasingly happier than they had been in a good while. They reached a large conference room and saw Mayor Harrison and the new campaign manager and all three of them felt their happy hearts drop to the pits of their stomachs. For the new campaign manager looked much too familiar to them. This man had a a hat pulled almost down over his eyes and very long pant legs but the moment that man looked up with his shiny, shiny eyes, the Baudelaires knew that their assumptions had, indeed been wrong. The man in front of them was Count Olaf. 


	4. Chapter Three

If you ever have a distant family get-together, you will know your parents would like you to be nice to these relatives even if they smell odd or tell bad jokes. Your parents will tell you it is a nice gesture.   
  
Now as the Baudelaires stared at the man who had made the most recent events of their lives a pretty kettle of fish, they knew nothing could ever make them act nice. Now as you are reading this, you are most likely wearing an expression of puzzlement upon your face. When I say 'pretty kettle of fish', I mean the man had made the Baudelaire's recent lives a horrible experience. As I write this, the cavern I am hiding in is filling with gasoline, thanks to the same man. This man is Count Olaf.  
  
The Baudelaires stared at the horrid Count Olaf, in his newest disguise. The Mayor stood up importantly and cleared his throat.  
  
"Taylor and, erm, other children," he said, " This is Mr. Arthur Rutherford."  
  
Arthur Rutherford looked at the children, with hunger for stealing fortunes in his eyes.  
  
"Hello children," he said in a low voice, disguised his normally wheezy one.  
  
Violet faked her best smile and looked at Mr. Rutherford,  
  
"Hello sir. It's nice to meet you."  
  
Klaus followed suit and spoke,  
  
"Yes, it's a pleasure."  
  
Finally, Sunny finished with "Shadgo!", which in this case meant 'We know who you really are but we'll pretend to believe you as who you want to be for now.'  
  
Violet looked to Uncle Kennedy and spoke,   
  
"If that's all, we'd like to get back to work."  
  
Their guardian smiled nervously and stammered,  
  
"Yes, of course."  
  
The children exited the room and met by a water fountain. Klaus looked distraught,  
  
"We were wrong. He did find us."  
  
Violet continued with,  
  
"He must have a new plan to capture us."  
  
Sunny stated,  
  
"He probably brought his assistants with him too."  
  
Actually, Sunny said "Nadjah" but if she spoke in words you could understand, the above would have been the translation. Uncle Kennedy came out of the conference room, looking downhearted.  
  
"The Mayor thinks I'm a lazy employee just because Rutherford is buttering his bread."  
  
If someone says someone else is buttering yet another person's bread, it simply means they are being very nice to get on the third person's good side, which is also called 'sucking up'.  
  
Violet looked at him, reassuringly.  
  
"Don't worry, once the Mayor finds out who Rutherford really is, he'll think you are the better employee."  
  
Kennedy looked puzzled,  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
Klaus looked at the guardian and said,  
  
"You see, the so-called 'Arthur Rutherford' is really Count Olaf!"  
  
"What?" he questioned. "I thought Count Olaf had one eyebrow and I'm not going to ask Mr. Rutherford to lift his pants leg, so you can see if he has an eye tattoo."  
  
Klaus replied angrily,   
  
"His hat covers his eyebrow and he does have a tattoo because his is Count Olaf!"  
  
"Klaus, calm down please." said their guardian. "I have to get back to work now and you should too."  
  
With that statement, Uncle Kennedy left them to do whatever an assistant mayor does. The Baudelaires slumped against the wall and slid to the floor.  
  
"If Uncle Kennedy doesn't believe us, I don't think anyone will." Violet said unhappily.  
  
For a few minutes, the Baudelaires sat in silence, thinking about Olaf's newest scheme, whatever it was. Soon, they heard a squeaking noise, growing louder, they looked up to see a boy, looking to be around Violet's age, rolling a large, squeaky cart. He was pulling envelopes from this cart and dropping them on desks. As the boy wheeled the cart by the Baudelaires, he stopped and looked down at them.  
  
The first thing the Baudelaires noticed about this boy was the certain thing on his shoulder. It was a small, yellow-green bird. This bird seemed to be well-trained because it did not move as the boy was moving down the hallway.   
  
As he looked down at the children, the boy not the bird, he smiled a half-smile and questioned,  
  
"Hello. Do you work here or are you visiting?"  
  
"We work here. We're living with assistant mayor Taylor." said Violet, rising from the floor.  
  
"I'm Violet Baudelaire and this is Klaus and that's Sunny."  
  
He smiled a full smile now and said,  
  
"I'm Peter Smolik. And this is my bird, Perico."  
  
Klaus looked thoughtfully at Peter and said,  
  
"Is that a foreign name?"  
  
Peter answered,  
  
"Well actually, I think Smolik might be partially Eastern but I'm not su-"  
  
Klaus interrupted with,  
  
"No, I actually meant your bird's name."  
  
"Oh, it's Spanish. It means parakeet. Which is what my bird is."  
  
Violet picked Sunny up in her arms and asked,  
  
"So do you work here?"  
  
Peter sighed and smiled his half-smile again.  
  
"Yeah. I live with the Mayor. I'm an orphan."  
  
Peter looked at the Baudelaire's downcast expressions. He questioned,  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
The Baudelaires looked at each other, took a deep breath, and began to tell the miserable story of their lives, beginning with that fateful day when Mr. Poe had told them their parents had perished in a huge fire and ending with Olaf's most recent attempt to steal their fortunes and his re-kidnapping of the Quagmire triplets. 


End file.
